Maryland

Maryland is poised to be a leader in clean energy solutions to climate change, thanks in large part to groundbreaking laws CCAN and our allies have helped to pass — including one of the strongest state-level carbon caps in the country, a clean electricity standard to spur wind and solar power, and landmark offshore wind power legislation.

But Maryland still gets a majority of its electricity from burning dirty fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas. Meanwhile, new dirty energy threats, such as fracking and fracked gas exports, would set us back further in solving climate change.

Learn how you can take action to make Maryland a clean energy leader and keep our communities safe from dirty energy pollution.

Over half of Maryland’s electricity still comes from carbon-spewing fossil fuels-coal, oil and natural gas. These dirty fuels are bad for our health, our economy, our climate, and our energy security. As the state that is the 3rd most vulnerable in America to sea-level rise driven by climate change and with the worst air quality on the east coast, we need to act now to curb our dependence on fossil fuels. That’s why we’re working to pass the Clean Energy Advancement Act (SB 373/HB 377), raising our clean energy to 25% by 2020 and putting us on track to double our clean energy to 40% by 2025. Learn more >>

The clock is ticking: While no fracking yet occurs in Maryland, the gas industry is targeting our state as the next place to bring dangerous drilling. Meanwhile, the evidence is mounting showing fracking is dangerous to our health. In the 2015 Maryland General Assembly, CCAN is fighting to pass new legislation to place a moratorium on fracking in Maryland. Learn more>>

In April, the giant utility company Exelon announced plans to buy Pepco, the electricity utility that serves customers in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Exelon would become the biggest power distributor in Maryland and in the United States — should the deal go through. But for that to happen, the Public Service Commissions in the District of Columbia and Maryland must approve it, and find that the deal serves the “public interest.” Learn more>>

The oil industry is targeting Baltimore as an easy through-way to export crude oil to refineries along the East Coast, and potentially throughout the world. In the community of Curtis Bay, Targa Terminals is seeking approval to construct a crude oil export facility that would cause more air pollution and bring significant safety risks to South Baltimore and the city as a whole. A crude oil train or port explosion could threaten thousands of Baltimore residents, local property and the environment.Learn more>>

A Virginia-based company called Dominion Resources wants to build a massive export facility on the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland to export fracked natural gas to Asia. This Cove Point project would incentivize more harmful fracking across our region. It could trigger more planet-heating pollution than Maryland’s entire fleet of coal-fired power plants combined. Learn more>>

Maryland has a far-reaching action plan designed to reduce statewide greenhouse gas pollution by 25 percent by 2020, a goal mandated by the General Assembly in 2009. CCAN is working to put this plan into action — by fixing and strengthening our state’s renewable energy laws, advancing offshore wind power, and boosting energy efficiency solutions. Learn more>>

CCAN is fighting to move Maryland beyond all dirty sources of energy that pollute our climate and communities. This includes the dirtiest fossil fuel — coal — and trash-burning incinerators, which can emit just as much or more toxic air and carbon pollution as coal-burning plants. Learn more>>